Tuesday, April 10, 2012

What to Do with Devil Dog

Last night as we were winding down for bed, I should have known that something was wrong.

Like most kids, Leo fights going to bed. He gets this big burst of energy and wants to run around and play. Last night, though, all he wanted to do was lay on the couch in my lap and then as we were headed to bed drank a little water. When we actually got into bed, instead of taking up his normal position as described in Sleeping with the Devil, he opted to sleep at the foot of the bed where my feet normally go. I was okay with this as I just stretched out diagonally across the bed, which is how I slept before he came into my life.

Unfortunately, at 3:05 AM I hear and feel some movement as Leo gets up and jumps off the bed. This, of course, wakes me up a little. But then I start hearing heaving breathing and the starting sounds of retching, which wakes me bolt upright and out of the bed. I start herding him towards the door and actually get him to the outside door and open it. Sadly, he cowars away from the open door and the darkness and promptly throws up on the living room carpet. As I stand there and sigh and tell him it is okay, he goes over and vomits again on the tile floor. Great, two spots to clean up. After he finishes, he just looks at me all pitiful-like and then walks out the open door to sit on the patio while I clean up.

After I get everything cleaned up and sanitized and he comes back in, he heads to the couch to curl up. So, I was like, okay, we'll sleep out here for awhile and went to turn off lights and get my phone/alarm, but he followed me back to the bedroom where we crawled back into bed. This time, though, he didn't want to be at the foot of the bed. Instead, he wanted Mama to hold him, so he curled up next to me with his head on my shoulder wheezing into my face. I eventually managed to shift him so that I was spooning him and he was breathing into my elbow (I love him but can't take the breathing in the face).

This morning, now that we are up, he continues to wheeze and sleep and has not appetite...I put his breakfast out for him and he hasn't touched it. So, I'm giving him a couple of hours to perk up and then we are off to the vet again.

As I think back, the last time he get sick like this was right after I took him to the groomers, maybe there is a correlation....